Blue Amalgamation
by Atatami
Summary: * VOLTRON:SPOILERS * One shots or short stories mainly centered about Lance. I already have a few ideas I want to do, but feel free to leave suggestions and promots for what you want to see! I will consider doing other characters, too! Cover art-Elentori. CH4-The ultimate sacrifice is made
1. Wait, What Happened?

**IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED SEASON 6 OF VOLTRON GO NO FURTHER. MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD***

 **I just started to get into the Voltron Fandom, and I love it here. It's awesome. I literally binge watched the entire series a week before Season 6 got released, and HOLY CRAP IT WAS AMAZING.**

 **But before I got into the thick of it all, even I noticed that Lance's character seemed...dull, from a story point of view. There have been brief glimpse where we get to see what seems to be hiding behind that grin and charm, but not nearly enough to satisfy me. (Which is why I cannot WAIT for Season 7. PLEASE GIVE ME MORE LANCE.)**

 **And then after Season 6, I just had to do SOMETHING. Like, he literally DIED and all that was there was a reassurance from Allura and then...nothing.**

 **I get that everyone else had things they needed to focus on, but there was NOTHING to show that anyone else even knew what exactly happened.**

 **Well, not for long, I can tell you that. And, from that train of thought, this was born. Sorry if anybody seems out of character, it's my first time writing them and I'm gonna try my best!**

 **Also, this can either be seen as platonic Klance or the beginning of a more romantic relationship. Whichever you prefer! :)**

 _"We're going home."_

Those words still rang true in his head as they passed yet another planet. This one looked a bit like Saturn, with rings circling the orange tinted globe. There were two sets of rings, and the parts where they overlapped was a blurry mix of debris and asteroids.

Lance leaned father back into his seat, a sigh escaping his lips.

He was going home. Finally, he'll be able to see his mamá. He could already feel the phantom touches of her bone crushing hugs, the way the rest of his family would join in as soon as it was instigated.

A smile brushed his lips, the thoughts of home bringing a peace to Lance's mind that was almost foreign now.

One didn't have much time for peace between being a Paladin of Voltron, saving planets from the tyranny of the Galra, and making sure the Castle of Lions is in top condition.

His smile fades as he thinks about his home away from home, now just a blue diamond inside the Yellow Lion. It was a necessary sacrifice in order to close the rifts and seal Lotor inside the realm of quintessence, but that doesn't mean the hurt had gone away. It has only been about a quintant since they started their journey back to Earth, after all.

But, if anything positive could be derived out of losing the Castle, it was that they got Shiro back. The _real_ Shiro.

He really was happy that Shiro was back. It didn't feel like a complete team without him, even if he may never pilot the Black Lion again. But Lance couldn't help that little seed of guilt and remorse in his gut.

If he had just listened _closer_. Shiro had tried to reach out to him, tried to get Lance to help him. Explain what was going on. If only he had taken it more seriously, not brushed it off like the Not-Shiro told him to. Maybe then Shiro would have been saved sooner.

There's a gentle pressure at the base of his skull, and Lance feels a giant purr course through his entire being. His smile is small, but it's there as he gently pat's console in front of him.

"It's alright. Nothing to get worked up over. I'm fine." he could feel Red's reluctance, but she eventually ceases her purring.

Kaltenecker made a soft keening noise next to him, putting her head into his shoulder. Whether it was just by accident or if the cow somehow knew he wasn't feeling all that well, Lance didn't entirely know, but he wanted to believe it was the latter.

"Don't worry, Kaltenecker. We'll be back on Earth in no time, and then you can go graze on some real grass, how's that sound?" Kaltenecker mooed lowly, and continued to stare out the window into open space.

Lance rubbed her head and then went back to his thoughts about his family once again.

He couldn't wait to see their reactions when he pulled up in a giant, red lion. His little siblings, nieces and nephews jumping up and down in glee, excitedly pointing up to the sky when he decends. His older siblings will have tears in their eyes as he steps out, but his Mamá will be the first one to embrace him.

They'll all push him inside the house he grew up in, the familiar stains and smells all washing over him with a wave of nostalgia. His Mamá will make his return into a full blown fiesta, with mountains of food and hugs and love and warmth.

He couldn't wait until they finally got back. Unfortunately for them, it takes time to cross the Galaxy, and they were going to have to make stops for food, sleep, and other necessary supplies.

And, as he heard his comm's crackle to life, it seems like now would be one of those times.

"Paladin's," Allura's voice came, "Coran has located a suitable planet to restock out supplies for the journey. It's name is Abegon, and if Coran is correct-" Lance heard Coran's light assurance in the background ("When am I ever wrong, Princess!"), before Allura continued, "-then the planet is indeed inhabited, but the lifeforms are of a peaceful nature. As long as we do not disturb them too much, then we shall be off within a quintant of landing."

"Alright, send us the coordinates." Keith said, and soon enough coordinates popped up on Red's star map.

Lance brought up a hologram of the planet, Abegon. It was a smaller planet, about the size of Mars, but that's where the similarities ended. The surface was tinted purple, with what looked like small, pink lakes scattered throughout. The clouds were a deep red, with three moons-one smaller than the other two-orbitting the planet.

Any other day, Lance would have been happy to land and explore what the planet had to offer, taking their time getting to know the locals and organic life. But now he wanted to go straight past and continue on the way home.

Sure enough, Abegon soon came into their view, and all of them were entering the planets atmosphere. Allura landed first, followed by Pidge, Keith, Hunk, and then Lance.

Their landing spot was on a beach of some sort. The Lions landed on a light purple sand bar, with the pink waters lapping at the shores. And they were already gaining the attention of the locals.

What appeared to be fishermen were previously out on the lake, but as soon as they saw the fabelled Lion's of Voltron, they came rushing to shore.

Lance was the first one out of Red, sending a beaming smile to the fishermen through his helmet.

They looked humanoid in shape, with red scales covering their exposed skin and small, pink tufts of hair coming out of the points of their ears. They had no facial hair what so ever-not even eyebrows-and it seemed as if the only eye color the species possessed was a deep, forest green with a slitted pupil.

The three fishermen approached cautiously, eyes wary despite the tales they had heard of Voltron. Lance's smile widened in what he hoped was a friendly way, hands now on his hips.

"Hey there, Abegonian's! Name's Lance, also known as the Red Paladin, even though I'm wearing blue." he could feel Allura's presence by his right side, and he casually put his arm over her shoulder. "And this beautiful lady is Princess Allura, also known as the Blue Paladin, even though she's wearing pink."

Lance frowned in thought, then snapped his fingers. "I think it might be time for a wardrobe change! I mean, Keith wears red, but is the Black Paladin. Seriously, the only one still in their colors are Hunk and Pidge, people are bound to get confused." he took a glance at Allura, who he could see rolled her eyes at his chatter.

"Greetings, as said I am Princess Allura of Altea." Lance frowned when she didn't comment on his thoughts, and he could faintly hear Pidge and Hunk trying to contain their snickers behind him. Traitors.

"We have heard of your grace." the largest Abegonian stated, bowing his head in respect, which the other two followed. "But what is the occasion that we might be blessed with your presence on our humble planet?"

"We're on a long journey." Keith answered from Lance's other side. The teen briefly entertained the thought of throwing his other arm around him, but he didn't really want to deal with a broken wrist at the moment. "We need to stock supplies and get some rest. Will you allow us to say?"

"Well, it is not our decision. But we will gladly escort you to our queen, Marlek. But I do not doubt she will allow you all to stay, for as long as needed."

Allura clasped her hands in front of her, and gave the Abegonian's a pleased smile. "That would be wonderful."

The tallest one gave a short nod, reflecting Allura's kind smile. "Very well. We will lead you back to the Capital City. It is not far."

"Excellent." Allura said, then made to help the locals with their fishing supplies, along with Keith.

Lance stood their for a moment longer, not entirely sure what to do, until he shrugged and went over to Hunk and Pidge, who were giggling along with Romelle. Krolia stood off to the side, a blank look on her face as she twirled her knife.

 _'Emo brooding must run in the family'_ Lance thought, giving Keith's mother a wide berth. She still kinda freaked him out.

"So you ate this 'Pasta'? It does not sound very appetizing." Romelle stated, and Lance found himself wondering just what kind of conversation he walked into.

Hunk laughed, wiping a tear from his eye. "Oh, yeah, you bet I ate it! It might not sound good, but that shrimp pasta was to _die_ for!" he exclaimed. He noticed Lance hovering along side Pidge, and his smile brightened. "Hey, you remember that one time I ate that entire box of bowtie pasta straight from the box, right?"

Lance gave a short laugh at the memory. It was at one of their many sleepovers before the Garrison, and one of Lance's older brothers dared him to eat the whole box without cooking it. Hunk did so without hesitation, proudly earning the ten dollars.

"You bet I do! You probably drank an entire gallon of water afterwards!" beside him, Pidge raised an amused eyebrow.

"Wait, you ate an entire box of noodles uncooked?" Hunk's smile grew impossibly wider. Romelle looked very confused, but was trying her best to follow the conversation.

"Yep! It wasn't all bad, just really dry." the Yellow Paladin stated. Lance saw Romelle open her mouth, most likely to ask another question about what pasta was, but Allura interupted.

"Paladin's." she announced, gaining all of their attention. "I will be accompanying them to the Capital City, and will be gone for at least three varga. Feel free to entertain yourselves." one glance at Pidge's mischevious grin had her amending what she said. "As long as it is in some way productive. And, please, do not try and destroy anything too badly."

Pidge's grin fell, and Lance could hear her murmering under her breath. He only smirked and nudged her shoulder, earning him a glare. His smirk only grew at it.

"Don't worry, Princess. I already know what we're going to be doing, which is training." Keith announced, followed by groans from the other Paladin's. He shook his head, and shot them all a soft glare. "Just because we're going home doesn't mean we can slack off. We still have a job to do."

"Well, obviously." Lance snarked, and he could already feel Keith's irritation, much to his own delight. "But we literally just defeated a giant robot pumped full of quintessence, not to mention we lost the Castle. Can't we rest first, you humanoid robot?"

Keith gave him an exasperated look, sighing.

"War doesn't rest, Lance. All of us need to be in our best shape, just in case we run into something unexpected."

"Which is always." Pidge grumbled, with Hunk muttering his agreement. But Lance wasn't done, yet.

"Yeah, I get we need to be in shape and all, on our A-Game, or whatever. But once again, we just came back from saving _all_ universes. _Everywhere_." Lance brought his hands out to exaggerate the point, and he could hear the internal rage Keith was trying to school. Lance loved that reaction.

"I get it. You're all tired, so am I. That didn't stop us when we were on the Castle, why's it any different now? So suck it up, _Lance_ , and be back on this beach in 5 minutes for training." with that the Black Paladin stormed off, climbing back into his Lion.

Lance huffed and crossed his arms, his left hip jutting out. "Whatever you say, oh fearless mullet brain." he mumbled, but nevertheless went back into Red to grab his bayard.

Kaltenecker grunted at him as he reached past her head, grabbing the object. He gave her one last smile and an affectionate head rub, which to his delight she leaned into, before heading back out again.

The only people left outside were Romelle and Krolia, who seemed to be having an awkward conversation if Krolia's pinched face was anything to go by. Romelle, however, seemed to be oblivious, as she had a grin on her face as she talked with the Galran.

It was a bit odd, actually. To see an Altean talking so casually with another Galran, without the tension he always saw with Allura. Even when talking with Kolivan and the Blade's she seemed on edge, even though all of them knew the Blade's of Marmora could be trusted.

Lance turned away from them and made his way farther out onto the beach, where their training wouldn't damage anything. Hopefully.

Now that Lance could properly take in the sight before him, he felt a bit awestruck. He faced towards the lake, the sand warm even through his boots, and water lapping at the shores in soothing motions, just like back in Cuba.

It looked like the sun was just beginning to set, casting a red glow over the entire landscape.

By now, Lance had been to many planets, and had seen things he had never thought possible. He definitely had favourites, for sure, but this scene before him...it skyrocketed near the top of the list.

He was so mesmerized by the landscape that he failed to hear the footsteps approaching him from behind.

"So you complain about training, but are the first one out here?" Keith's patronizing voice made him jump, and if anyone ever accused him of letting out a squel he would deny it within an inch of his life.

Lance whipped around, light blush on his cheeks, retort already on the tip of his tongue. He opened his mouth, but then snapped it shut as he saw Shiro standing next to Keith, looking much more rested than when he last saw him.

Granted, he still doesn't look great. He still looks much older than he should, with dark bags under his eyes. Shiro's posture is hunched, and he looks bone tired. Lance is suprised he's even able to stand.

Keith's space wolf was also there, standing almost protectively next to Shiro, but Lance could only gape at the man.

All the guilt he felt when he last saw him whole comes back full force, his stomach tying into knots and tongue glued to the roof of his mouth. He knows that he must look really weird about now, but he can only focus on his churning stomach.

Shiro smiles lightly at Lance, only making the knots tighten. "Hey, Lance. Good to see you."

Only after a few ticks does Lance realize he hasn't replied back, and he quickly tries to unlock his words.

"H-hey, Shiro. Good-good to see you, too." he says, in a much softer voice than he wanted. At the two Paladin's slightly concerned looks, he managed to push down the guilt and try for one of his easygoing smiles. It feels more like a grimace, but it makes the two in front of him relax a bit more. "Gotta say, I'm liking the white hair. Not the best style, but it works pretty good for you, Space Dad."

At the nickname Shiro's smile widens, but he still rolls his eyes. Keith cracks a small grin, and glances at Shiro in amusement.

"And here I thought I had finally escaped that name." Shiro muttered, but it puts him at ease.

Lance still feels the residue from the guilt he feels, but he'll deal with it later, in the privacy of Red. Just like he used to do at the Castle, where he would go in his room or take sanctuary in Blue. It wouldn't be right to burden the rest of the team with his troubles. They all had enough to worry about.

The last thing Lance wanted to do was be even more useless than he already is.

Even so, it still hurts a little that the rest of the Paladin's can so easily dismiss him. It's almost like a rule; if Lance is smiling, nothing is wrong-if he's not, something is.

That's exactly why Lance always tries his best to smile, even on days where it feels like everything is falling apart. If he's smiling, no one will worry, and they won't have to deal with him any more than they have to.

Lately, however, the smiles have been getting harder to make. When he's actually happy there is no problem, but Lance hasn't felt genuine joy for a while. Sure, there were sparce moments where he felt a small spark, but the flame he usually feels has been absent.

So no matter how relieved it makes him feel to see Shiro and Keith dismissing his brief slip-up, it still hurts. Maybe even more than Lance himself knows.

But Lance still smiles. "You will never be able to escape it, not as long as I'm around." he made tiny finger guns, and Shiro shakes his head in amusement.

"Hey! Shiro!" Pidge exclaims, jogging over to them. She stops when she is on Lance's right side, her face holding a beaming smile that makes his more genuine. "Great to see you, dude!"

"Um, maybe it isn't such a good idea for Shiro to be out here?" Hunk says hesitantly from the side, slowly coming to a stop beside Pidge. Shiro gives him a look, and he hurridely continues. "I mean, he did just get sucked out of a giant space lion into a cloned body. That's gotta put a strain on anybody, even if they're as awesome as Shiro."

"He won't be training with us, just watching." Keith interjecting before Shiro could speak. Hunk visibly deflated a little.

"Oh, well, in that case, are we gonna get started or what?" The Yellow Paladin seemed a bit jittery, but everyone wrote it off as being cooped up in Yellow for too long. All of them needed this time to stretch their legs, no matter how much they moaned and groaned.

"Right. Since we don't have the Gladiator anymore, we'll break into groups. Hunk and Pidge, you'll spar. Lance, you're with me. Whoever pins the other wins, and the winners will face off."

Pidge's face lit up even more at the prospect of a competition. "Oh, you are all going down."

Lance scoffed, and lightly punched her shoulder. "Yeah right, Pidgeon. First, I'm gonna beat mullet into the ground, and then your next." Pidge barked out a laugh, and Hunk was amused as well.

"Sure, Lance. All of us know Keith's going to win this, and I can't wait to see your face when your on the ground bawling your eyes out." Hunk let out a snort to Pidge's remark. Lance's wilted a bit, but still kept the playful air.

"C'mon Pidge, you don't have any faith in me?" he asked, in a mocking hurt expression. Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Nope, none at all." she replies in the most serious voice she can muster. Keith sighs, shaking his head with a hand on his face, while Shiro chuckles with amusement.

"Can we just-get to training? Please?" Keith pleads, and with one last, playful glare to each other, the two sets of teams seperated.

Shiro sat down on the sand, Keith's space wolf sitting next to him, always keeping one eye on Keith as he moved away.

Lance pouted a bit. He loved Kaltenecker, but why couldn't he have a badass space wolf that wanted to protect him? Keith _always_ got the cool stuff.

Lance stopped and faced his opponent, getting into a ready position with his fists raised and legs bent. Keith did the same, as it was always customary in their sparring sessions to start with hand-to-hand, then bring out their baywards later.

Then, as if both of them heard some invisible signal to start, Lance and Keith lunged at each other.

Lance made the first punch, going for Keith's stomach. Keith dodged left, countering the miss with a roundhouse kick. Lance ducked, and as Keith's foot passed he straightened and kicked his own foot out, aiming for his stomach once again.

Keith's eyes widened, but the hit didn't connect. At the last second he lunged away, rolling on the ground into a crouched position.

Lance faintly heard Pidge and Hunk's spar a fair distance behind him, but his focus was solely on the Paladin in front of him. Keith gave him an appraising look, and Lance greedily sucked it in, a warmth spreading through out his chest.

He knew his hand-to-hand was sub-par at best, especially going against someone like Keith, a naturally gifted fighter topped off with Paladin and Blade of Marmora training.

Keith giving him praise, even if it wasn't verbal, was all Lance could hope for.

The Black Paladin stood back up, summoning his Bayard. The sword appeared, and Keith got down in a ready position, waiting for Lance.

He quickly summoned his own Bayard, the gun held comfortably in his hands. He briefly wondered if he could summon his own sword again, if only to see all of their dumbstruck reactions, but decided that he would quickly be taken down in a sword fight.

With a battle cry Keith lunged forward, swinging his sword in front of him. Lance aimed and fired off two shots, both of which the Black Paladin deflected with his sword.

Keith was too close now. He was at a disadvantage, with only a brief second to react as Keith's brought his sword back for a strike. Breath hitching Lance brought up his left forearm, activating his shield. The sword bounced off, but Keith swung back.

This continued for a while, Lance deflecting strikes with either his shield or gun, while Keith continued to advance. Lance's breathing was getting heavier, and he only felt a brief pang of jealousy when he saw Keith barely looked winded, even though they had to have been sparring for well over ten minutes now.

Lance heard Pidge and Hunk's cheering over the blood rushing through his ears, their fight having already ended.

Keith struck with an especially hard blow, and Lance grunted as they were in a stalemate, Keith's sword stuck inbetween his shield and gun. He gratefully took the small respite to try and gain some of his breath back, but it didn't last long.

Keith swiftly disintegrated his Bayard, dropping down and sweeping Lance's legs out from under him before he even knew what was happening. He hit the sand, breath knocked out of him. But as he looked up, he saw Keith coming for him once again, sword drawn. His eyes widened and he rolled out of the way and back on his feet.

His breath hitched when he saw the sword coming towards his stomach. Instinctually he sucked in his stomach and leaned back. By doing so he lost his footing and balance, and Keith moved in once more. He rammed his shoulder into Lance's stomach, collapsing on top of him.

Keith didn't let up on the hit, either. He used his full force to push Lance to the ground, making Lance lose the breath he had just gained back.

He heard Hunk's groan and Pidge's cheer as he looked up at Keith, who was straddling his stomach with the tip of his sword to Lance's neck. Lance's own Bayard was now deactivated, sitting a couple feet away from his right hand. He didn't remember, but he must have dropped it from the hit.

Lance wheezed out another breath and glared at the smug face of Keith hovering above him.

"I win." he stated, still not faking his sword away. Lance huffed, his cheeks turning pink with shame and embarrassment from the blunt statement.

"Wh-whatever." he wheezed. He squeezed his eyes shut, going limp under the body pinning him to the sand. "Just get that sword away from me. Allura's not here, she can't revive me again if you 'accidently' kill your rival, y'know."

It was meant to be a joke, one of his typical wisecracks. But when he heard Shiro's sharp intake of breath, the body stiffening above him, and the way Pidge and Hunk went silent, he knew something must have gotten lost in translation.

He cracked his left eye opened, and started a bit at Keith's horrified expression. He immediately deactivated his Bayard, but he didn't move.

"Again?" he whispered, voice only audible to Lance. He, in turn, only raised an eyebrow and propped himself up on his elbows.

"Um, yeah? You guys...didn't know? I thought everyone knew." he glanced at the others, all pale and staring at Lance in mortification.

"Of course we didn't know!" Pidge suddenly burst out, stomping up to Lance and Keith. The Black Paladin finally got off of Lance at Pidges approach. Lance sat up and faced the red faced Pidge, but didn't attempt to stand yet.

It was a shock for him as well. He thought everyone knew what had happened, and they just brushed it off as a stroke of luck that he wasn't dead forever. Lance didn't know that they had no idea what happened.

"What is wrong with you!?" she screamed, jabbing a finger into Lance's shoulder harshly. "The fact that you died isn't something you keep to yourself! What were you even...when did...Gah!" she threw her hands into the air.

Lance shoulders shrunk at her anger filled words. He honestly didn't see it as that big of a deal. Sure, it wasn't a pleasant experience, and it only drove the point home that they could really die out here, but he didn't stay dead. Allura was there, she helped him come back. Everything turned out okay. It was only for a few seconds.

After everything was said and done, he _had_ been down that no one seemed to care about his short death. He at least expected one of Hunk's bone crushing hugs when they saw each other in person again.

But when the mission was over, there was no mention of it at all. Everything kept moving smoothly in the Castle. Lance started to question himself during that time, but quickly pushed down all of his insecurities from the incident. If no one was going to bring it up, then he figured it didn't matter.

That he didn't matter. That he was expendable. And, honestly, he had come to terms with that. Lance had always been the fifth wheel, and now he was the seventh wheel that no one needed.

As long as Lance kept smiling and made sure his space family were safe and happy, he could live with that title.

Now that he knew the team had no idea he had had a brief visit with death, his mind started to evaluate everything again. And his mind was a bit swamped. He didn't even notice Hunk racing up to him, all the while looking like he was going to be sick.

Suddenly he was lifted into the air by strong, comforting arms. He yelped a bit in suprise, tensing when Hunk increased the force behind the hug. Lance squirmed a bit, trying to free his arms, and started when he saw the tear tracks streaming down his face.

"Aw, c'mon, Hunk. Don't cry, everything's fine! It doesn't matter." his words were supposed to be comforting, and Lance frowned deeper when Hunk's tears only increased.

"Wha-you-when did-how did we..." he stammered, before tightening his hold around Lance so much he thought he heard one of his ribs creak. "I'm so sorry, Lance!"

"Woah, woah." he wheezed, patting Hunk's side in an attempt to get him to relieve some pressure. Pidge was still going on a rampage next to him, angrily muttering while she gripped her hair tightly. "Why are you apologizing, big guy? There's nothing for you to be sorry for." Hunk held Lance out in front of him, his eyes red and puffy from crying. Tear tracks stained his cheeks, and he sniffled.

"I'm sorry for-for not noticing a-anything. For not-not being there for you when...when..." he wasn't able to finish, and instead enveloped Lance in another hug, this one less crushing.

Lance looked over Hunk's shoulder and saw Shiro, frozen on the ground and staring off. His complexion seemed even paler, and he was shaking ever so slightly. Lance couldn't see Keith from his position, but it made him slightly nervous that he had yet to say anything.

"Relax, guys. I'm okay! I'm here! Allura revived me!" he attempted to comfort them again, but got no response. He sighed and went limp in Hunk's hold. "Besides, I should be the one apologizing."

That seemed to get Pidge's attention again. Her head snapped up, and Lance got caught in the calculating, fiery gaze.

"What do you have to apologize for?! Dying?! Cause I will literally slap you if you do!" Lance flinched at the response. He knew that Pidge could get riled up when it came to them, but this was a bit overboard in his opinion.

"I'm sorry that you guys never knew. I thought you did." he reiterated, Hunk setting him down. He glanced back over at Shiro and saw that he was now clutching the space wolfs fur with his one hand, which was still trembling.

He turned to Keith, and froze. He stood stock still, Bayard hanging loose in his grasp. Lance couldn't figure out the blank expression on his face, which only worried him more. He cautiously took a step towards him, face drawn up in concern. Keith still had yet to say anything.

Before he could get closer, thin arms wrapped around his waist, with a face burying itself into his side. He looked down to see Pidge, the beginnings of tears in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but Shiro's soft voice broke through first.

"That was you." his voice was hoarse, and clutched even tighter to space wolfs fur. It looked like it should have hurt, but the wolf just stood there passively, eyes on Shiro. His breath hitched, and he squeezed his eyes shut while lowering his head.

"Wh-what do you mean, Shiro?" Hunk cautiously asked. When his head came back up, everyone was shocked to see the shine in them.

The threat of an upset Shiro must have shocked Keith out of his trance, as he brushed past them all to get to Shiro. He knelt next to him and place a hand on his shoulder, eyes full of concern. Shiro flashed him a small, wan smile, then turned back to Lance.

"When I was...in the spiritual plane..." he started, gaining everyone's attention. "There was a disturbance. I felt it. And then...a star seemed to burn brighter." Shiro took a deep breath. "A blue star." he whispered. Keith gave his shoulder a squeeze, his own eyes gliding close.

Lance was frozen, staring at all of them. Pidge was still clutching his waist, as if he would somehow disappear from her hold. Hunk stood next to him, still sniffling but looking like he was coming back together. Shiro still had his eyes tightly shut, and Keith crouched beside him, eyes also closed.

Lance seriously regretted that he said anything. He meant to joke, but it had turned into this mess. Why couldn't he just find a way to keep his mouth shut? It would benefit everyone if he did.

Lance sighed, and looked down at Pidge. "I'm not gonna go away, Pidge. You can let go of me now." he said gently, placing a hand on her head. Pidge sniffed and shook her head, lifting shining eyes to meet Lance's.

"But you almost did." she whispered, and somehow found a way to squeeze even harder. "And I didn't even know..." she trailed off, a blank expression overcoming her face as she buried it back into Lance's side.

He barely heard the words she murmured into his armour. "I didn't know...I almost lost a big brother again...and I didn't know..." Lance's heart broke, and he hugged Pidge back as hard as he could manage.

The guilt from before sprang back into his gut with a vengeance, to the point where he physically felt nauseous. All this time he had thought they just didn't care about him, when it was so obvious they did.

He must really be weak if he keeps needing the reasurrance that he means something to them.

Pidge sniffed one more time before she let go, eyes trailing to the sand as she kicked a little bit with her foot. Her arms crossed in front of her, a small blush spread across her face.

"Sorry for...exploding, I guess." she mumbled. Lance gave her the biggest grin he could manage through the guilt wrenching his body (and this time it really felt like a grimace) and ruffled her hair.

"Aw, it's alright, Pidgy. It shows that you're actually not a robot." Pidge squawked, but there was a small smile on her face as she pushed his hand off.

That's right; Lance is smiling (or at least trying to), which means here isn't anything going on. His emotions aren't running rampant and the self loathing he tries to push down for the good of Voltron isn't flooding his brain.

Everything's okay.

"Lance." the voice that spoke was thick, and it took a moment for Lance to realize it came from Keith. He was standing by Shiro, but his gaze was firmly locked with his. Lance gulped when he couldn't decipher the look on his face, and quickly decided that whatever was going to happen he wasn't going to like. At all.

"We need to talk." was all he said before he walked up to Lance.

Lance himself was frozen, but with slight fear and apprehension. One thing that he had learned from his time in space was Keith was as unpredictable as the weather. One moment he could be laughing, actually looking like he was enjoying himself for once, and the next he would be snarling, hand reaching for his Blade of Marmora sword.

His stomach twisted even more when Keith gripped his upper right arm and forcibly tugged him away from the rest of the team. He quickly glanced back at them, trying to see if they were as worried as he was.

Shiro was still sitting in shock, Pidge had an eyebrow raised over her red rimmed eyes, calculating the scene, and Hunk looked like he desperately wanted to follow after him.

He sent Hunk what he hoped was a reassuring smile. 'Cause no matter how apprehensive he was about whatever Keith was doing, he knew that the other wanted it to be in a somewhat private place.

Hunk swallowed, but sent back another small smirk and nodded his head slightly.

Lance was smiling, after all, surely things couldn't be that bad.

Keith continued dragging Lance across the beach. The further they got away from the lions and the others, the more his anxiousness grew. He desperately wanted to get away from him, and considered just pulling away because this was getting to be a bit too much and he just wanted to get back to Red and Kaltenecker and be alone so he didn't bother anyone-

One look a Keith's face banished all thoughts of trying to escape...whatever was happening. The other had the determined look he got whenever they went on a particularly important mission, and Lance knew there was no hope. Keith's jaw was set, and his eyes looked steadily forward as the others continued to grow smaller and smaller behind them.

Then, when the team was just small smudges in the distance, Keith finally let go. He spun around to face Lance, making brief eye contact before looking away and crossing his arms.

Lance didn't really know what to do. His relationship with Keith had gotten much better, that was for certain, but it was rarely even just the two of them. It only happened on the rare chance they sought each other out for something or were paired together for missions.

And the fact he still had no idea what Keith was thinking about bothered him as well, making Lance unconsciously rub the back of his neck. It was a nervous tick that he really needed to stop, but his stomach wouldn't stop rolling and his mind was racing.

Well, might as well try and act like his usual self, make Keith stop worrying so much. So, he threw on a smirk.

"So, mullet head, you actually gonna say something or did you just drag me out here to stand in silence? Cause that's pretty lame if you ask me-"

"Lance." he interupted Lance, who shut his mouth at the stern tone. His eyes held a fire within them, and Lance's smirk disappeared. "Stop it."

Lance gave him a puzzled look, the rolling of his stomach increasing even more. It felt like his hands were shaking, but he couldn't tell if they actually were.

"W-what are you talking about?" he winced at the stutter and his weak tone, Keith's eyes boring into his own.

Keith sighed and suddenly sat down on the sand, hands extended behind him and knees bent. He patted the spot beside him, but Lance thought of it as more of an order than an invitation. Lance slowly sat down, arms wound around his knees as he felt his heartbeat pick up nervously.

Whatever was happening, Lance did not like it. He just wanted to get back into Red and process everything by himself. Red was no Blue, but Red attempted to sooth him in his own way.

"You need to stop doing...this." Keith exclaimed, gesturing to Lance. There was a bit of bite to his tone, and he winced when Lance uncounciously flinched back, eyes widening even more. "What I meant is..."

Lance watched as Keith struggled to find his words. His heart was beating out of his chest, and the urge to wring his hands together was almost overwhelming. He gripped his hands onto his knees tightly, trying to stop the shaking he could feel them doing.

Keith sighed and ran a hand through his hair, seeming to make a decision. Lance didn't like that, as his decisions when it came to feeling tended to end in anger. Keith looked out onto the lake, the sun now halfway down the horizon. But instead of anger in his eyes, Lance saw grief. And worry. And concern. Nothing he would expect to see from Keith, unless it was a life-or-death situation.

"You need to stop downplaying yourself." Lance was about to interject, but Keith continued before he could. "And you can't deny it. That time when you came into my room; I remember all of it. And you may not remember our bonding moment-but I do. You were doing this exact same thing." he turned to look at Lance, and everything seemed to stop when he caught the shimmer in Keith's amethyst eyes.

"You _died_ , Lance. There's no sugar coating that. And no matter how long it was for, or the fact that you're alive right now, it still happened, and that's...not okay." Keith glanced down for a moment, a faint purple blush coming to his cheeks before he looked at Lance again. "Everyone here cares about you, Lance. I know you don't think you have a place in this team, that you're easily replaceable." the words drove daggers into Lance's heart, and he felt tears prickle at the corners of his eyes.

Lance wasn't sure what kind of pep-talk Keith was trying to give, but he wasn't doing the bets job. But really, what could he expect from a socially inept half alien?

"And, maybe from a soldier standpoint, you are." Lance's heart seemed to stop, and all his self deprecating thoughts boiled to the surface. Before they could overwhelm him completely, though, Keith kept speaking. "But if you look at it like that, so are all of us."

Lance instantly opened his mouth to argue. Pidge was great with tech, Hunk was the mechanic wiz, Allura was the battle expert, and Keith was their leader. They weren't replaceable, they played an important role for everything mission.

Lance, on the other hand, didn't. He was either in a sniping position, able to do very little, or he was simply an extra hand if they ever needed it. Anyone could do what he did.

"There is an entire universe out there, and I'm sure there are others worthy of piloting the Lions. But from a family standpoint, you are in _no way replaceable._ "

Keith paused for a minute, and Lance didn't miss the way his voice cracked on the word 'family'.

But Lance was still trying to wrap his mind around the concept. Keith thought of them as family? Since when did that happen? They hated each other!

However, as Lance thought back, he saw it. They had become closer. Slowly but surely, their comments and jibes became more of a game than anything, just to see how far it would go.

Lance always make jokes that he wouldn't trust Keith with anything, but he would trust him with his _life_. He _has_ trusted him with his life, it was necessary in order for them to become a team at all.

"I know that I am not exactly the best with feelings." Keith continued. "But I know that if we lost you...this team would fall apart." Keith gave a small, rueful smirk, turning back to face the lake. "When I left, you were able to keep going. Same with when Shiro was missing. If you were very gone, though, everyone would be a disaster. Including me."

Lance could only stare at Keith, not sure what to feel. All of this was great to hear from the normally shuttered Keith, but it was so bizarre that he didn't know how to respond. So he did the only thing that seemed right.

Lance brought up his arms, which had stopped trembling at some point during Keith's speech, and wrapped them around the other. His head fell onto the plate of his shoulder, and felt Keith stiffen at the touch, but just as soon relax into it.

It took a few moments for him to realize he was hugging Keith, his cheeks going aflame as soon as it hit. And he had no doubt that Keith was just as flustered.

He was about to pull away, but then Keith's arm was there, pulling him back to his side. If it was possible his cheeks heated even more, but he too soon found himself leaning into the touch.

Lance found himself dozing as the sun dipped lower, and a content smile drifted into his face as Keith gave his shoulders a small squeeze.

Maybe he was the most useless Paladin. Maybe he was never meant to fight in this war. And, just maybe, he would die and he would, without a doubt, get replaced.

But for now, all he needed to focus on was his family that they had made, and the family he was going back to see. If he did that, then maybe things wouldn't be so bad.

Nothing was for certain in the future, but as he sat on the sands on this world far from his own, in the arms of his family, he knew one thing for certain.

Smiles were meant for joy, not for covering up the pain. And he would make sure it stayed that way.

 ***Written before July 20th, 2018-AKA SDCC***


	2. Don't Hurt Them

**Hello everyone! Here I am again!**

 **So some people didn't really know that Lance died, and it was never confirmed, but from all I can gather it happened, if only for a few seconds.**

 **Let me explain.**

 **In the first episode of season 6, "Omega Shield", Lance dives to Allura's rescue after she is in danger of electrocution (at least I'm pretty sure it's electrocution). It looks EXTREMELY painful, and when Allura goes to see if he's alright he's not moving. At all. Then she does the weird glowy-hand-quintessence thing we see in the last episode of the season with Shiro. Granted it's not as extreme, but when she did it with Shiro we knew that he was dead.**

 **So the way I took it, was that Lance died in his effort to protect Allura and she brought him back; just like we see her do with Shiro later.**

 **I don't know if this is true, or if something happened at a CC to disprove this and Lance was only severely injured, but until that happens I'm going to continue beleiveing he died in that episode.**

 **Now, I'm going to be doing a team reaction to Lance's Broadsword, but I thought I would have a different chapter first.**

 **It's been in my head for a while, so I now present to you my version of Altean!Lance!**

 **Time: Sometime between 'The Belly of The Weblum' and 'Escape from Beta Traz'.**

 **P.S- How they got captured isn't really important, so there's no real backstory except: captured.**

 **P.P.S- There is a species featured in this story that doesn't appear until a later episode, and I have a head cannon that females of this species make great companions, but the males are literal killing machines that can't really be tamed. You'll see.**

For once, when everything went wrong, it wasn't Lance's fault. A fact which suprised both Lance himself and the rest of the team. Even more surprising was Allura being the one at fault.

Of course, the Altean's information had been proved to have been outdated before. Such as the swap meet that had been described to be a dangerous and perilous mission that they might not come back with all their limbs with, which turned out to just be a space mall.

It wasn't surprising that it was wrong this time, too.

"Well, it's been nice knowing all of you." Pidge declares from her cell across from Lance. He could practically hear Hunk's eyes widening, Keith's blank expression, and Shiro's dissaproving frown.

"C'mon, Pidge, don't joke around like that." Hunk called nervously somewhere to Lance's left, his voice shaking. "I'm sure Allura and Coran are on their way right now with the Castle to rescue us. Even though this was supposed to be a three day mission. And they don't know we've been captured. Or that the Galra have our lions. OR that we've been taken captive inside a massive Galran spaceship-"

"Hunk, you need to calm down." Shiro said from his own cell, interrupting the increasing panic coming from Hunk.

"Don't you have even a little bit of faith? They'll come for us, break us out, we'll kick some Galra butt, and then be through a wormhole in no time." Lance put in enthusiastically, even if the uneasy pit in his stomach was growing by the minute.

There was a moment of silence, where everyone seemed to contemplate Lance's words (as that is basically what happened whenever they got captured in the past) before Keith scoffed.

"And what if they don't come, Lance? We need to find a way out ourselves. We can't simply wait for a rescue that's probably not coming."

"Way to be the downer, Mullet. I was just being optimistic!" Lance threw back. He heard Pidge groan.

"We don't have time for optimism!" the Red Paladin shouted back, slamming his fist into the floor. Or wall. Lance couldn't see him, so he was just guessing where he was in the cell. Assuming they were all in the same sort of cell.

There were a lot of assumption going around, and to Lance, that was not boding well for them.

He surely hoped the others cells were the same as his. Lance's cell was about ten feet long, and twelve feet wide, with the only thing in it being a small ledge which was supposed to act as a bed. The only lighting in the room came from the small, barred opening in the door, where typical Galra purple filtered through.

Currently, Lance himself was draped across the slab of concrete called a bed, drumming his fingers along the top of his thigh in a nervous tick.

"Guys, we need to stay focused." Shiro stated calmly, sensing the clearly rising tension between the Blue and Red Paladin's.

Lance huffed at his little argument starter being shot down, but he supposed Shiro was right.

Plus, he couldn't help but feel even more uneasy than usual. It definitely wasn't the first time they had been in one of these situations. And before, they always got out fine, with or without the other Altean's help.

But when Lance's stomach twisted again, and his muscles started to tense even more, he knew this would only end in disaster, despite claiming optimism to the rest of Team Voltron.

"Okay, so does anyone have any idea on how-" Hunk started, but was interrupted by the 'whoosh' of a metal door from Lance's left.

Lance's eyes widened, and he sat bolt upright, fists clenched, staring out into the hall. He heard the sound of sentries-four, if he heard right-along with another pair of footsteps, most likely belonging to a Galran Officer.

Great. Sentries they could handle easily enough without weapons, but an Officer? That would be much more difficult.

The footsteps stopped, and Lance could hear the beep of a lock being deactivated right next to his cell. His stomach churned more when he heard Hunk's labored breathing as a sentry no doubt pulled him from his cell. And with a faint click, no doubt put restraints on him as well.

There was another click, and he heard rather than saw Pidge being manhandled out of her cell.

"Get your paws off of me!" she screeched. There was a light scuffle, but the restraints clicked into place soon after, along with a light chuckle.

"You're quite the fighter, I see." a deep voice bellowed, no doubt belonging to the Galran Officer.

Then the sentries appeared at Lance's door, and he sprang to his feet just before the beep signaled it was unlocked. He gulped, knowing what he was about to try would probably be as successful as Pidge's attempt. But he couldn't just stand there and let himself be restrained, could he?

When the door slide open and he saw the sentries-two in front of the door, one holding the restraints-he pounced. With a war cry, he flung himself at the two robots, fists clenched and muscles ready to work.

He bashed the robot not holding the restraints with his right shoulder, where it bashed into the wall and started to spark. He quickly whipped around to face the other one, not taking any heed of the precenses behind him.

That was the worst mistake he could have made.

His eyes set on the sentry in front of him, his whole body suddenly felt only pain. Lance distantly heard people yelling his name as his vision turned white, and he may or may not have screamed. He's honestly not sure.

The next thing he was aware of, however, was a throaty laugh and the ground his face was smashed against. Lance's muscles spasmed, and the only thing that ran through his mind was the hurt he felt.

His ears were ringing, and he distantly acknowledged that strong, gloved hands were gripping his upper arms. He felt himself being pulled up, and with half lidded eyes he wobbled before the arms tightened even more.

Lance's vision was blurry, but he managed to make out black and red blob's being led out of their cells by something shiny.

Shiro. And that was Keith. His head lolled to the side, and he caught glimpses of a larger yellow blob and a small green one being held by more shiny things. Hunk and Pidge.

But wasn't there a Galran Officer?

Lazily his head lolled back, falling onto something hard. His mind snapped back to focus with a groan when he came face to face with the Galran holding onto him.

There was a sinister smile on his face, fangs poking out between his lips. His skin was a dark purple with a single line of light, purple hair going down the middle of his head. Lighter marks went from his neck all the way to the corner of his pupiless, yellow eyes, with a small indent going away from the eyes.

"I see we have even more of a fighter in you." he announced, somehow tightening the iron grip he had on Lance's upper arms.

Lance groaned, his muscles unconsciously spasming. Electrocution, then. He was definitely electrocuted.

The Galran huffed, before grabbing Lance's wrist and bringing them behind his back, placing them in his own restraints. Lance tugged on them experimentally, and yipped when a smaller, but still painful, jolt of electricity ran through his arms.

"You're species does not have a very high tolerance to pain, do you?" he grabbed Lance's face, squeezing until Lance winced. "No wonder, your skin has no protection."

"Leave him alone." Shiro finally announced after seeing Lance wince. He felt the Officer turn his head behind him, but just as soon tuned back to look at the back of Lance's head.

Lance was spun around so he was on the side of the Galran, his hand still on his arm, facing the rest of his team being detained by sentries.

"This is an important member of your team then, hm? I didn't see any of you speaking up for the green one, after all." he jerked him forward slightly, and Lance felt his face go ashen.

Of course he didn't want any other members of his team to be in this position, but why did it have to be him? Why was it always him who seemed to gain some sort of unwanted attention? Lance knew he had good looks and could charm the ladies, but he didn't exactly think that would apply in this situation.

"He is a member of our team." Shiro said neutrally, face blank. Lance knew what he was doing, trying to downplay his real panic, but it still hurt to hear that he was just another person on the team.

He glanced to the side, and saw a cruel smirk curl up the Galran lips.

"I'll take that as a yes."

With that he was pushed forward, sending a glare at the Officer as he stumbled.

"Hey, careful with the merchandise! It takes a long time to get this kind of beauty."

The Galran merely rose an eyebrow, pushing him to the front, the rest of Team Voltron following behind him.

"I see you are also the loud one, then."

"The loud one?! I'll have you know-" Lance was abruptly cut off as the Galran brought up his other hand and slapped him across the face. He didn't need to look at his face to know there would be a bruise there in the morning.

If they even got to see another morning.

"Lance, do us all a favour and shut up for once." Keith growled, glaring at the back of Lance's head.

The Blue Paladin threw his own halfhearted glare over his shoulder. "Well, someone has to speak up, right? Or did we all agree at some point that we would just do whatever our captors want?"

The Galran chuckled, and pushed Lance ahead of him as he started to walk out of the room.

"I quite like you, Paladin. You have a wit that is not seen with most of the prisoners that come through here. Maybe I can convince General Utev to spare you if you manage to survive. Then we could have some more fun."

Lance's breath hitched, and he felt his face go paler, but he managed a shaky laugh. "If we're going to have fun, don't I deserve to know your name first? It's sort of a custom on my planet to know the name of someone who's going to kill you eventually." Total Bull, but that was sort of Lance's specialty.

The most important lesson Lance learned was how to act confident even if you have no idea what you're doing. People don't tend to question you if you seem to know what you're doing, or don't look like you're scared.

But, in reality, Lance was scared the majority of the time. Especially right now. Not so much for himself, but for his friends, which unfortunately included Keith.

The officer hummed in response. "Very well, as you and you're friends will die soon, and the Black one will go to Zarkon." Lance gulped, glancing back at the Galran. "You will know me as Officer Exoran."

"Nice to meet you, Exoran, my names Lance." he blurted out before he could think. "Now that that's out of the way, why don't we all just relax, you take these restraints off of us, and we all just have a nice long talk about tea?"

There was a palpable silence, and Lance felt his cheeks flush as he realized how ridiculous he just sounded. Sit down and talk about tea? Where the heck did that come from?

They finally made it to a new door, this one larger than the one they had exited. Exoran stopped beside Lance and pressed his hand to the sensor, which lit up green. The door slid open with a hiss, and Lance was abruptly shoved in.

He landed with a yelp on his right side, and heard three other thumps from behind him. His head whipped up and he saw Shiro standing in at them, eyes wide in alarm. Keith, Pidge, and Hunk were all laying on the floor, still restrained, also looking out into the soft purple light of the hallway.

Exoran smiled with nothing but malicious intent, and pressed his hand to the sensor again, but didn't let go even when it flashed.

"What are you doing?!" Shiro exclaiming, whipping around and facing the Galran the best as he could, anger clear in his charcoal eyes.

Exoran calmly looked to the Black Paladin, then back at the other Paladin's. His gaze landed on Lance, and his grin only widened.

"I hope you all enjoy Kropi's company. He hasn't had anything to eat for quite a while, though, so he might be a bit...peckish."

With that Exoran brought his hand off of the sensor and the door closed with a hiss and a click, effectively locking them all in darkness only broken by two lone lanterns by the door.

"Great. Stuck in a dark room with 'Kropi', who is apparently hungry." Pidge says sardonically while standing up and glancing down at him. "Nice going, Lance."

"What the heck did I do?!" Lance exclaims indignantly, shooting to his feet and giving Pidge a glare, which she returned ten fold.

"When will you ever learn to just shut your mouth? Or is that not possible for you?" Keith grumbled, pushing himself off the floor as well.

"Shut it, Hothead! At least I was trying to do something! What were you doing, Mr. Emo? Sulking in the back?" Lance shot back, taking s step closer to the Red Paladin.

Keith growled and took a step closer as well. "If we just pretended like we were complying, then maybe we wouldn't have ended up in this mess!"

"Pretend we were complying? We would be complying! Nobody even had a plan!" Lance screamed incredulously.

"Guys..." Hunk whispered from the floor, being ignored by the the two arguing and Pidge who was trying to find a way to open the door from the inside, with no luck.

"I was working on a plan, but kept getting interupted by your obnoxious voice!"

"Sure you were, Keith. Were you also trying to mentally fight Exoran, too?"

"Guys!" Hunk said louder, finally gaining everyone's attention. He was still on the floor, looking into the darkness of the room. Lance was about to ignore him and go back to proving Keith wrong, but then he saw the way Hunk's face paled.

"What wrong?" Lance asked, cautiously moving towards where Hunk was sitting. Both Keith and Pidge stood beside him, looking out into the same abyss that Hunk was staring at.

"I thought I saw something...and whatever it was, it was big." Hunk gulped nervously, finally finding his footing and standing up.

Lance immidiately started to scan the darkness that could hold their demise. His eyes were finally adjusted to the darkness, but all he saw were gray blobs that vaguely resembled tables and the smooth, dark purple walls.

"I don't see anything." Lance announced, shrugging his shoulders.

Keith's eyes narrowed, but he soon shook his head as well. "I don't see anything either. Maybe it was your imagination?" he questioned Hunk, who shook his head.

"No way, I did not imagine seeing that. It was definitely the 'Kropi' Exoran was talking about."

That's right, there was a hungry monster in here with them. Lance was so preoccupied with Keith he completely forgot they were supposed to be getting eaten.

Hunk's words made them all tense, and they unconsciously formed a circle, with all their backs together.

There was silence as they all scanned their surroundings. Lance could still only see vague, dark shapes, but when he focused enough he could see sharper outlines.

Suddenly there was a very low growl to their right, and Lance's head whipped towards the direction. His fear spiked when he caught sight of the creature.

The alien was huge. At least the size of an elephant. Its teeth were bared, with the yellow eyes seemingly staring straight into Lance's. It seemed to have coarse, dark purple fur across its entire body. Two large horns stuck out of its head above its small, pointed ears. The front legs were at least two times the size of the back, with large claws on the tips of its five fingers. A tail at least half the size of the entire creature swung lazily behind it, ready to pounce.

Lance's mouth went dry. He opened it to warn the others, but all that came out was a strangled croak. Lance opened and closed his mouth again and again, words still escaping him as he stared down the creature.

Finally, when the aliens eyes widened, Lance found his voice.

"I think I found Kropi." he whispered, and felt Keith, Pidge and Hunk all turn towards where he was looking. Lance felt Keith tense as well as heard his breath hitch when he finally spotted the creature. Hunk and Pidge, however, just stared into the darkness with narrowed eyes.

"Where?" Pidge whispered, adjusting her glasses as if that would help.

"Right in front of us. How can you not see it? It's huge!" Keith whisper yelled when it became clear that Lance was too preoccupied to answer.

Every muscle in the Blue Paladin's body was tensed. Just like Kropi's was. The creature was about ready to pounce, and they were its target, and they needed to move. NOW.

"SCATTER!" Lance shouted, and before his teammates could get over the shock of hearing him scream, Kropi roared and pounced.

Luckily, Lance, Pidge and Keith got out of the way in time. Unfortunately, Hunk wasn't as fast as the rest of them.

As Lance was coming out of a roll, he heard Hunk's strangled yell. He turned back just in time to see the Yellow Paladin being swiped across the floor by a giant paw, a small trail of blood following him until he slammed into the adjacent wall.

Lance's blood went cold as Kropi roared again and scrambled across the floor towards Hunk, who had yet to get up and who's face was contorted in pain.

While Lance was frozen to his spot crouched on the floor, Keith acted. With a guttural roar the Red Paladin threw himself at the alien, clutching onto his neck and holding tight.

Kropi halted his run towards Hunk and growled, throwing his head back and forth to shake Keith off. The creature bucked and spinned, but Keith held fast, determined to keep the attention away from Hunk.

The Red Paladin's determination would have won out, would it not have been for the tail.

"KEITH!" Lance found himself screaming, springing to action and running towards Kropi and Keith. Before he could reach them, though, the creatures tail had come up and bashed Keith across the head with force that didn't seem possible for the flismy appendage.

Keith cried out in pain as it hit him, his arms loosening around Kropi's neck, resulting in him being thrown into the air and swatted away by one of the aliens massive front legs.

Lance cringed as he heard at least two cracks when Keith tumbled to the floor, grimacing in pain and holding his right arm to his chest. Keith's forehead oozed blood, and he most definitely had a concussion from the impact with the floor.

As Lance sprinted his way over to the beast, he saw Kropi set his eyes on Pidge. The creature growled and bent his legs, ready to pounce on the small girl making her way over to Hunk, who still had yet to get back up.

Lance's vision went hazy. It finally occurred to him, seeing the beast about to attack Pidge, that they were really, truly, on their own with this. No one would be coming for them. This was a problem they had to solve themselves. No Allura. No Coran. No Castle. No Lions. And No Shiro.

Lance vaguely felt his hands growing warmer, and the way his surroundings seemed to get tinged the slightest bit of blue. Most of the Blue Paladin's focus was on the way Kropi was looking at Pidge with a gaze full of bloodlust.

Then, with a scream he didn't know his throat could make, Lance launched himself towards the lumbering ball of fur. As soon as he grabbed onto its side, Kropi screeched.

All Lance registered was that he hurt it. Diverted its attention away from his teammates. He didn't notice the way his hands glowed a irridecent, blueish-white, or the small, pinpricking pain growing beneath his eyes. The Blue Paladin didn't even notice the way his teammates were staring at him with slack-jawed astonishment.

Kropi bucked and shook, trying everything to get Lance off its side while it continued to howl in pain. Its fur was smoking, exposing even more skin to Lance's hands. Which also got rid of Lance's handhold.

With a small grunt Lance was thrown to the floor, Kropi still writhing above him. Lance immidiately rolled to his feet, and felt something solid form in his hand. With a glance down he saw a sword, made of some glowing blueish-white substance, with some particles coming off of it.

Lance didn't even process that he shouldn't have been able to have a sword. He shouldn't have any weapon period. All he knew was that it was something he could use to hurt Kropi and stop it from hurting his team.

The creature finally turned back to Lance, murder written in its pupiless yellow eyes. Kropi roared again, and dug his claws into the floor. Lance in turn tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.

"Get away from my friends!" he screamed, and only took note that everything flashed a brief blue for a moment before Lance and Kropi charged at each other.

Before they could meet each other, though, there was an explosion that broke out the wall to Lances left, luckily not a wall a member of Voltron was slumped against.

From then on, everything just got crazier.

 **There will be a part 2, but it's going to be posted after two other one shots that I already have planned (including the broadsword one).**

 **Hope you enjoyed my take on Altean!Lance, though! Things will be explained a bit further in the second part, but you'll just have to wait and see!**

 **~Atatami**


	3. And Then There Were Three

**Part 2 Altean!Lance**

 **(I know I said I would do a Broadsword shot but I felt like I should do this first, sorry for making those who wanted that wait a bit longer than planned!)**

 **(Ps-Also I am American so this is just something for here on out: I DO NOT USE THE METRIC SYSTEM AND I AM SORRY FOR BASICALLY EVERYONE WHO DOESNT LIVE IN AMERICA)**

Everything was utter chaos. Kropi roared in outrage, smoke overtook Lance's lungs, and the fiery debris was what the room was reduced to.

Lance squirmed into the smoke in front of him, seeing the outline of the creature that was previously on a rampage. The creature that almost killed his friends.

With a growl he surged forward, sword still glowing strongly even with the smoke. In the back of his mind he realized that he should gather his friends and make their escape now that they had an exit. But the hate he felt towards this monster was almost palpable, blinding Lance to anything other than the monster.

Before he could get closer enough Kropi let out another ear-splitting roar. It jumped into the air and sprinted towards the origin of the smoke; a giant, gaping hole in the wall.

Lance watched that spot until he could only barely hear the creatures claws scraping on the metal floor of the corridors beyond. He took deep, filling breaths, the sword that was in his hand suddenly evaporating. The blue glow receded from the room until all that was left to see by were the still-smoldering embers of the explosion.

Everything was muffled to his ears, but as he sat there panting he could have sworn someone was calling his name. His vision started to swim, and his knees gave out, sending him to the floor with a dull 'thunk'.

He hurt. Lance's cheeks hurt, his hands hurt, his ears hurt, and everywhere else was aching like he went ten rounds with the Gladiator bot. His focus was fading at best, and the smoke was now starting to overwhelm him.

His next breath caught in his throat, and he started coughing, falling to his hands. The coughing continued, and Lance felt small hands on his shoulders, pushing him up to sit on his knees once more.

While Lance was hacking his lungs out he registered that it was Pidge in front of him, her dull voice screaming in his ears. Through hazy vision he saw the worry in her eyes, and the way her mouth moved at a rapid pace. He felt the Green Paladin give him a shake, jostling his vision even more.

Lance let out a low moan (at least he thought it was a moan, he felt his mouth open), closing his eyes as his vision became even more messed up.

He felt Pidge give both his shoulders a squeeze that he felt even through his armour. And then, finally, pieces of her speech started to get through to her muddled brain.

"Lan...ease...ed...get out!" her voice was frantic, her head now swiveling towards where Keith had crawled over to where Hunk was leaning against the wall. Everything became sharp again as more adrenaline coursed through his body at the sight of the blood.

"Lance, snap out of it! We need to go and we can't carry you!" Pidge was screaming, shaking him once again.

"I...I'm fine." Lance whispered, getting to his feet with the help of Pidge. He was definitely shaky, but they needed to get out.

The puddle around Hunk's form became even more pronounced as Lance trudged closer, Pidge staying beside him, worried eyes making sure Lance would stay on his feet.

Keith looked up at their approached, giving Lance a look he couldn't quite decipher. What the heck was the mullet thinking about now?

Then Lance remember the hit he had taken. With a wince Lance directed his gaze towards Keith's right arm, which he cradled to his chest. The blood running down the Red Paladin's face was also cause for concern.

Lance wrote off the weird look as a symptom of the concussion Keith likely had, and moved to kneel next to Hunk.

The Yellow Paladin wasn't unconscious, which Lance supposed was a good thing over all. In the moment though, the only thing it was accomplishing was making Hunk live through the brunt of the pain.

Up close the wound looked much worse. Now Lance could see the three jagged lines that cut straight through Hunk's chest piece. They were each about an inch wide and a foot and a half long. And they were still oozing blood, even with the pressure both Hunk and Keith had put on the wounds.

"Hunk, we're gonna get you up, okay?" Pidge stated, gesturing for Keith and Lance to get on either side of Hunk. Both complied, Lance a little more wobbly than he would have liked.

But that didn't matter. They needed to get out and get back to the Castle so Hunk could get into a crypod.

"You ready, Hunkalicious?" Lance teased, hoping to get a reaction other than the pain filled grimace that seemed permanently attached to his face.

Both Lance and Keith wound one of their arms under his arms and behind Hunk's back, their hands barely touching.

He was rewarded with a small smirk and a tiny huff of laughter. Hunk's eyes pried open a sliver, and through the pain Lance could see a glimmer of mirth.

"Sure thing...Lancelot." Hunk replied, making Lance grin at Hunk in return.

It had become a tradition to use those nicknames for each other back on Earth when one of them knew the other was stressed out.

Even before the Garrison and all the work required there, the nicknames were something so dear to them. Something that only they could call each other. They special names.

With everything that has gone on lately, it felt nice to fall back on a tradition.

But he needed to focus. Lance shook his head a bit and looked at Hunk with a more serious face.

"Alright, we're going to try to lift you up, buddy. Try to help us as much as you can. Think that's possible?" Lance asked, being given a slight nod in answer as Hunk clenched his eyes tight.

This was going to hurt. "Okay. Lift on three." Lance glanced at Keith, who nodded, his features stony and eyes filled with determination. "One, two...three!"

Lance heaved with everything he could, grimacing at the muffled scream from Hunk's lips. When they had him standing his entire weight leaned on them. It almost made Lance's knees buckle, but he held strong, knowing they might not be able to get Hunk back up again if he went down.

He heard Keith let out a grunt from Hunk's other side, but he held strong as well. Pidge appeared in front of them, her eyes flitting over Keith then Hunk, before lingering on Lance for a moment longer than necessary.

What was with all the looks he was getting? He was completely fine. Sure, Lance was sore and some parts of his body hurt, but that was normal after a battle, wasn't it?

"Come on, this way!" Pidge exclaimed, walking forward at a slow pace to go with the three men out if the room. They entered the smoke, and Lance coughed again, hearing Pidge and Hunk do the same.

Of course Keith didn't. It would be a blow to his pride if Keith coughed.

As they approached the door, the crackling of flames becoming louder, Lance realized they had no idea where this 'rescue' had come from. They also had no idea what lay beyond the wall. Walking out could mean being faced with a dozen sentries, and they would be weaponless.

"Pidge." he tried to warn, but she was already stepping out into the adorning corridor. Lance heard her gasp, and both Keith and Lance quickened their pace as much as they could.

When they guided Hunk to step over the small part of wall that wasn't blown away, Lance's eyes widened.

Sentries were scattered through the hallway. Some were torn apart by the creature, if the claw marks were anything to go by. Others, however, had limbs that looked sawed off, or with gaping holes through their chests.

Pidge was already setting her sights down the corridor to the left, eyes narrowed. Lance followed suit, listening for any sign of movement.

There. Faint footfalls of someone. Not a sentry, as there is no metallic echo. So it must be an Officer.

And just like before, they stood no chance against an officer without their weapons. And looking to the right showed a complete dead-end. It was most likely Officer Exoran, coming to see the damage done. That would be just their luck.

The footsteps proceeded closer, and as they did Lance noticed how light they were. Definitely not the heavy footsteps of a seven-foot Galran Officer.

Lance felt hope bloom in his chest, and when the figure turned the corner Lance almost sagged in relief.

"Shiro!" Pidge exclaimed, jogging to their leader while Keith, Hunk and Lance remained at the fasted pace they could (just a step below walking).

"Guys!" the Black Paladin yelled when he saw them, jogging towards them as well.

At first glance Shiro looked completely fine. And even better, he held all of their bayards on his belt, along with their helmets. But when Lance looked closer he could see the man was running on empty.

Shiro must have broken away from Exoran and fought off the sentries, found their gear then placed some sort of bomb on the wall. All by himself. And then when it actually blew up he must have had to run away from Kropi.

Lance didn't blame Shiro for looking like the walking dead, armour burnt in a few places near his chest and eyes wild with adrenaline. Their leader was totally getting pampered when they got back to the castle.

The Blue Paladin saw Shiro graze over everyone, mouth pulled down in worry when his sights landed on Keith and Hunk. When he turned his head to Lance, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open a bit.

"Lance...what-" he started to say, before Pidge surged forward and grabbed his arm.

"We can all talk about it when we're safe at the Castle. Right now, we need to get Hunk into a pod!"

Shiro's face hardened and with one last glance back (Seriously, what was with all the weird expressions directed at him? Was there something on his face or what?) they all surged forward at a snail's pace, Shiro handing Pidge her Bayard.

Eventually, they made it to the hangar. Shiro and Pidge made a surprisingly effective team, Pidge disarming any sentries from long-range while Shiro charged forward Galra-arm first.

Lance felt a pleasant tingle at the base of his head, and all the tension in his body relaxed as the Lions came into view. Surprisingly, they were under no protection other than the typical sentries. It was a wonder how the Galra controlled most of the universe.

"Hunk can come on Black with me" Shiro announced once they were all in front of their Lions. They all nodded, Lance and Keith quickly (and carefully) depositing Hunk into Blacks cockpit.

Shiro handed them all their helmets and gave them the word to move out, before more sentries arrived.

Lance welcomed the warming presence Blue sent through his mind. She lowered her head and he jumped in, heading straight to the Captains Chair, as he liked to call it.

He sat down and the Blue Lion powered up immediately, sliding the controls into his waiting hands.

"Miss me, Beautiful?" he asked, the rumbling purr echoing through the cockpit answer enough. "Sorry for the long wait, Baby Blue. Had to kick some but first."

The Blue Lion roared, and as Lance saw his teammates blasting out into space, the Yellow Lion in Blacks claws, a smile crept onto his face.

"We're okay now." he announced, after the rest of Voltron in flying away from the Galran starship. "We all got out, and soon everything will go back to normal, like none of this ever happened."

OoOoOoO

"Paladin's, you have returned!"

Lance jerked upright at the sound of Allura's voice, having fallen asleep shortly after they were a safe distance away from the Galra.

"We though you would have been killed within the varga!" Coran's ever cheerful voice chimed in through the headset. Lance rolled his eyes.

"Way to have faith in us, Coran." Lance replied sarcastically. He heard Pidge snicker, and counted it as a victory.

The Blue Paladin looked out the window and sure enough the Castle of Lions was slowly getting larger. They were almost to their home away from home, where they could take much-needed naps.

Lance yawned, stretching out his arms and hearing faint pops from his elbows. Even with the small snooze time, he was still unbelievably tired.

Yet he didn't quite know why. They might have just gotten done with escaping a Galran starship, but even the more life threatening battles hadn't worn him out like this. This ache felt more mental than physical, and Lance could strongly say he much preferred the physical kind.

"Not a problem, Number 3!" Coran answered jovially.

"All of us aren't okay, Princess." Shiro interjected, and Lance's stomach twisted guiltily as he had completely forgotten about Hunk's state. "Hunk will need a Cryopod as soon as we dock, and Keith will need to get look at as well."

"Right away, Number 1. I'll calibrate one immediately." the elder Altean's voice was serious now, sending Lance for a bit of whiplash at how quickly his tone changed. Keith grumbled out an 'I'm fine' that everyone ignored, knowing it would be no use arguing with the Red Paladin now.

There was a beat of silence as the Castle opened for each of the Lions, the five Lions of Voltron going into their respective hangars.

"Is anyone else in need of medical attention?" Allura's lilting voice came over the comm's, and their was an almost palpable awkwardness now that made no sense to Lance. No one else was hurt, right? Or was he just that unobservant?

"They're not...hurt, exactly." Pidge answered, her voice hesitant. "But...um..."

"You'll need to have a look at Lance when we land." Keith interrupted, ignoring the annoyed huff from Pidge's line.

Now Lance was extremely confused. There was nothing wrong with him, other than the unusual bought of lethargy. But that wasn't anything to be worried about.

"I'm completely fine, guys." Lance insisted. "There is nothing wrong with me. Just same ole Lancey Lance."

He could practically hear Keith's eye roll as Blue descended into her hangar, setting down onto the floor with a large thud.

"I beg to differ." Pidge mumbled sassily. But as she spoke again, her tone changed to something a bit more cautious. "Have you looked in a mirror?"

Lance was getting a bit irritated at all the questions and accusations being thrown his way. He didn't want to keep going around the subject that everyone seemed reluctant to talk about. If they noticed something wrong with Lance, just tell him straight out.

That was the only quality he liked about Keith, the brash way he stated problems. No sugar-coating it.

Like his friends seemed to be doing now.

"What is wrong with Lance? Has be been disfigured?" Lance choked, horrified at the mere idea of his beautiful face being ruined. Especially in front of the Princess.

"No, he's not injured at all. He just has some...features that he...didn't have before" Shiro answered, tone hesitant.

Lance groaned, smacking his head against the dash-board as Blue lowered her head to let him out. "Guys, just tell me already, cause I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"I shall go see about Lance's predicament." Allura announced, her line going silent as she no doubt made her way to the Blue Lions hangar.

"Lance, you really have no idea what happened back there? What happened to you?" Pidge asked incredulously.

"Of course I do! We got thrown in that cell, Kropi attacked us, Hunk got hurt, Keith got hurt, and then when I went to attack it the wall exploded! How could I not remember all that?!" Lance exclaimed getting out of the Captains Chair and walking down the ramp.

He emerged in the hangar and took off his helmet, running a hand through his hair.

"You don't remember fighting Kropi? At all?" Keith announced, his voice softer now that his helmet was off.

"No, I don't. I was going to fight it and then the wall exploded and here we are now. Is everyone happy now?" Lance said into the helmet, before muting the communications and placing it down on a nearby crate.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair once again. Why the heck was nobody believing him? They were all there, they knew what happened too!

His bangs flopped back down onto his forehead and his brow furrowed at his hair. Was the exhaustion making him see things, or was his hair lighter than it used to be?

The comments about his appearance from Pidge's came back to him, and he froze. Maybe Pidge was on to something.

Slowly, he walked over to a work station that Hunk and Coran worked at when Blue needed repairs, seeking out a reflective metal tray. Lance found his hands shaking as he reached out to it, grasping both sides.

He shook his head and took a deep breath. They were probably just messing with him, and there was nothing to worry about.

Lifting the tray up in front of his face, his breath caught in his throat. Lance's eyes widened comically, and the grip he had on the tray vanished, sending it clattering to the floor.

No. It wasn't possible. He couldn't possibly be...how was this...

His ears were not pointed. He did not have light blue frosted tips. And his eyes were not larger, and they did not seem to glow an iridescent blue. Lance's mind was just playing tricks on him.

Lance's mind was racing, thinking about all possible explanations and possibilities on what this could mean when he heard the soft sliding of the door behind him.

"Lance, are you-" she cut off with a gasp, seeing Lance's hair and pointed ears.

The Blue Paladin slowly turned around to face Allura, eyes wide and on the verge of panicking. When he caught sight of Allura, he saw that she wasn't fairing much better either.

"A-Allura...I..." Lance tried to come up with something to say, but for once he couldn't find anything to say to the Princess. Not even one of his cheesy pick-up lines.

She had her hands covering her mouth, and wetness to her eyes as she stared at Lance's face. She took a step forward, and then another, and before he knew it she was standing in front of him, tearfully looking up into his face.

"Lance..." she whispered. She brought her hands away from her mouth, and her left one went to rest on Lance's right cheek. Under any other circumstances Lance would have blushed like a ripe tomato ready to burst at the action. But he could only find the warmth of her hand grounding after what he just saw. About what he looked like.

"I can see why the others were distressed..." Allura trailed, never breaking eye contact. She took a deep breath, and lowered her hand. Gaining as much composure as she could, Allura clasped her hands in front of her and cleared her throat. "We must have Coran run a full diagnostic. Come, we shall head to the medical bay this instant."

Lance could only nod, following Allura out of Blue's hangar and into the spotless, white hallway.

If this test showed what he thought it might...then that would mean his whole life had been a lie. He had lived his life as though completely human when in reality he could be...he could be...

Lance could be an Altean.

It was a completely ridiculous notion, and if he hadn't seen his appearance for himself he would have scoffed at whoever suggested it. There had been no clues or signals to prepare him for a revelation such as this.

But Lance saw his reflection. He saw that there were no marks beneath his eyes like Allura or Coran. That must mean this must just be some sort of side effect from something in the room Kropi was being held at, right?

Lance hoped so. He didn't think he would be able to fully process the other option.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't know they had reached the medical bay until Allura was touching her hand to the pad to open the door. Lance braced himself as she briskly walked in and immediately set her sights on Coran.

The elder Altean looked to be making some last minutes adjustments to the pod Hunk was in, and Lance let out a small breath of relief that his friend was safe, at least.

Shiro was tending to Keith on one of the cushioned cots, bandaging his head with a layer of gauze. Pidge says next to Keith on the cot, hovering some sort of scanner over Keith's right arm, most likely looking for the breaks in his arm.

Allura and Lance closed in on Coran, and Lance could feel Keith and Pidge's eyes on them the entire way.

"Coran, could you spare a moment." she asked as calmly as she could. Lance saw her shoulders shaking a bit, and loathed that it was him that made her feel this way.

"Of course, Princess. Just give me a tick-there we are! Hunk is all set, and should be out in about five varga." Coran responded, spinning around with a bright smile on his face. "Now, what may I help..."

The elder Altean trailed off as he looked at Lance, eyes going wide in surprise in alarm. Before he could make a comment, Allura spoke up.

"I wish to run a full diagnostic on Lance, if you will. Your assistance would be much appreciated." Coran stood still for a moment longer, eyes trailing all over Lance's new features before closing his eyes and shaking his head.

He opened his eyes again and gave Lance a small smile, gabbing him gently by his upper arm. "As you wish, Princess." Coran said softly, leading Lance over to another Crypod.

The pod opened with a gentle hiss, and Lance needed no persuasion to step inside. He took a deep breath looking at Allura's still astonished eyes and Coran's back as he closed the pod and tapped on the many control.

A blue light suddenly washed over his body, going down to his feet and then back up to his face. It repeated the process one more time before there was a small beep, and the lid opened once more.

Lance jumped out, immediately looking over at Coran to confirm all of their suspicions. No one spoke, all the sound in the room coming from the elder Altean's gloved fingers swiping across the glass pad.

The screen flashed white for a moment, and from where Lance was still standing in front of the pod, he could see a silhouette of a human on the screen.

Coran's fingers stopped, staring at the screen. He looked to be reading the Altean script shown on the pad over and over again. Lance felt his stomach curl at what that could mean.

Then he turned, mustache drooping more than it was before. He cast a gaze towards Allura, giving a slight nod. She covered her mouth again, turning towards Lance with a tear slipping out of the corner of her right eye.

Lance could feel his hands shaking. His breaths were getting faster, more shallow, the longer Coran went without speaking.

But when he did, he really wished he would have just kept his mustache shut.

"Well, my boy," he started, his own eyes shining in the bright lights of the medbay, "it seems that while you are indeed human, there is about half of your genetic code that is also...Altean."

Lance stopped breathing all together. His thoughts all stopped, and his vision whited out as he crashed to the floor with muffled calls of his name following him into oblivion.

 **Um...guess I'm making a part 3? I wanted to wrap it up here, but that obviously didn't happen. And if you have any questions about the whole Altean Lance thing let me know! I'm trying to make this entire thing as canon as possible so things might get a little confusing.**

 **And also holy crap I just realized Voltron is ending in almost 10 days WHAT THE HECK WHERE DID ALL THE TIME GO.**

 **~Atatami**


	4. The Only Way

***HEAVY ROMANTIC KLANCE AHEAD***

 **Okay, I had this idea before season 8 came out and I just…couldn't let go of it.**

 **Being the person I was I just couldn't help myself and this is super angsty and it's basically my fantasy of a Klance fight scene that I hoped happened in the show but…obviously didn't. (I would never expect this EXACT scene to happen but I still wanted a Klance fight)**

 **I am not going to go on a rant about the show, but I am going to say I feel like the last season did not really give any character any justice, except maybe Honerva (which is…really weird but alright).**

 **With that said, I am still going to be continuing this series until I literally can't anymore and no one gives me any new ideas.**

 **Enjoy, and tissues may be what's necessary after reading this.**

Lance's own heart beat pounded in his ears as he ran through the empty halls of the Galaxy Garrison. The bright, flashing red lights and shrill alarms had cut out some time ago, but he knew the fight still persisted elsewhere.

They were caught off guard. No one knew they were coming until it was too late, and now everyone, no matter how old, was fighting to stay alive.

Everyone was fighting to save all of Earth.

The boots of Lance's armour screeched against the metal floor as he took a sharp left turn, Bayard clutched in a death grip. He had to reach his team, his lion, so they could fight off Honerva's army.

Lance was still reeling at that. He knew there were other Altean's thanks to Romelle, but he didn't process just how many there were until they were entering Earth's atmosphere. The guns on their ships open fired, and the Garrison took critical hits before the shield could be errected.

Lance found another question flitting through his mind as he watched, horrified, as the army swarmed the base, just an hour ago. Why were the Altean's following Honerva?

It was made clear by the Robeast fought off by the Atlas she was using the Altean's as a power source, just live Lotor. So why did they follow her to battle to destroy Voltron, and the only real chance they had of finally being free? By following Honerva, they were throwing away any opportunity to make a new Altea.

Lance shook his head. He couldn't think about the Altean's misguided actions. He needed to find the rest of his team, before…

He found bile rising up in his throat. Lance couldn't even think about what had happened, how he had turned on them. His yellow, rage fueled eyes as his Bayard turned into a sword. The way he had attacked them without hesitation, the way he almost…

No. That monster they had to fight-that they had to subdue by any means-was not Keith. It couldn't have been.

Everything had seemed fine. Other than the approaching army, of course. But as soon as the shield went up, no one was running around in a panic. Everyone was hyper focused on the problem at hand.

Then Keith screamed. Lance didn't think he had heard anything more terrifying in his life.

Keith didn't scream. Sure, he yelled, grunted, scoffed, and even laughed on the very rare occasion. But never, in all the time they had been together with Voltron, had Lance ever heard Keith scream.

It was almost an inhuman sound. Not at all fitting for their stoic, hot-headed leader. And then Keith was on the ground, lying on his back and grasping his head as his back jerked off of the floor in a pain filled spasm. Everyone in the room dropped what they were doing and turned towards the Black Paladin, Shiro's terror filled shout of 'Keith!' the only other sound for almost five whole seconds.

Shiro was the first to find out something was very, very wrong. He was crouched by Keith, trying to get his attention. His flesh hand was on the Black Paladin's cheek. Lance felt himself moving towards Keith as well, the rest of the Paladin's on his heels, when Keith's eyes snapped open.

Lance would never forget the cold knot of terror that swept over him when he saw Keith's yellow, glowing, cat-like eyes.

Suddenly Keith was up and Shiro was sprawled on the ground, knocked out cold from a head-butt. Then Keith was in front of the control panel driving his Bayard, now in sword form, through the shield generator.

And then all Hell broke loose. The orange hue that had colored the room faded, and the crew that could not fight piled to get to the door.

The Paladin's, meanwhile, had to fight their leader without seriously harming him. Which was emotionally and physically a monumental challenge.

Everytime anyone landed a hit, Lance's heart broke just a little bit more. He shook as he watched his friends, his family, fight the one person he reluctantly grew to care about. Lance had stood off to the side, blaster shaking in his hand as he watched Keith take down Pidge and then Hunk, then furiously trading blows with Allura.

Finally, when it looked like Allura would not make it, is when Lance took the shot. It was by no means a killing blow, but it couldn't have felt nice, either.

The blast hit Keith in the arm, distracting him just enough that Pidge, who had quickly regained consciousness, was able to electrocute him into unconsciousness.

Lance's heart twisted at the sight of him, smoke coming off of his armour. No one knew what really happened to him, other than he had unlocked some part of his Galran ruthlessness. The only idea came from Allura, who suggested he may have been affected by Honerva's alchemy, and his unusually strong quintessence was being controlled.

It was the best conclusion they had, and everyone went with it. And it made Lance's hate for the witch grow to immeasurable levels.

They could not waste any time restraining Keith, however. The Paladin's were needed elsewhere, at points where the invading Altean's had broken through. It was quickly decided that Hunk would take Shiro somewhere safe, while the rest of them spread out throughout the Garrison.

In hindsight, that plan was terrible. And now they were all going to pay dearly for it.

Keith had gotten out of the room (which, they had locked and activated the lock down protocol for), and was now fighting all of the Paladin's on the air field.

Lance laboured on every breath as he pumped his legs as fast as he could through the hallways. He was so close to the hangar now, and from there it would a straight shot to the battle. To Keith.

Finally he made it, and Lance activated his Bayard into the familiar weight of his blaster before running through the doors.

What he entered was a bloodbath. An ongoing battle between Altean's and Earthlings raged, and despite the Altean's having the greater advantages, the people of Earth were still holding their own against the assault.

But as much as he wanted to stay and assist, the battle he needed to get to was outside.

Lance ran through the fighting, gunfire, and smoke to the light at the end of the tunnel. The attack had happened just as everyone had finished their dinner, and the sun was only now beginning to set.

The Red Paladin ran into the open, wincing slightly from the change in lighting, before twirling around in search of the fight.

His heart stopped when he saw them.

About 50 yards away he saw Keith currently engaged in combat with Allura once more, with Shiro trying his best to get involved. Hunk, Pidge, and Coran lay on the ground. Hunk and Coran appeared to be conscious, but Pidge was out cold, helmet on the ground a foot from her head.

Lance began a dead sprint over to them, sweat dripping down the side of his face under his helmet. He could taste the salt drip into his mouth, but nothing in that moment mattered more than getting to Keith.

All the sounds of spaceships soaring above, explosions, screams, and gunfire were drowned out as he set his eyes on Keith. On the man he knew would never hurt any of his friends like this. Who deserved better than this path he was forced to take by an evil woman who had nothing more on her mind than revenge.

This was not the Keith he knew. The one who became flustered so easily, and never knew when to quit. Who never wanted to lead Voltron, but stepped up to the plate anyway, and thrived as the Black Paladin.

Whoever he would be fighting was not Keith. But it was Lance's missions to find that Kieth again. By any means necessary.

His eyes hardened, and with a new resolve he entered the battle with a shout, letting loose a barrage of fire towards the monster. Lance briefly caught Shiro's charcoal eyes, filled with relief with Lance's arrival, before they both went charging towards the battle.

The monster saw them coming, and with a snarl he knocked Allura down, who could do no more than lean to the side as she was knocked out with a sharp kick to her face.

Lance saw him raise his sword up, ready to plunge into her body. His breath caught, his minds froze, but his body kept moving. Lance found himself lunging towards the two, Bayard shifting, and a cry ripped out of his throat.

The black swords descent was met with a red broadsword, the two creating a sharp clang of metal. With all his strength, Lance pushed the sword away from Allura's body. The monster stumbled back, but growled and raised his sword once again.

His yellow eyes stared straight at Lance, and he could see no trace of Keith within them. Only rage and bloodlust.

Lance felt Shiro come to a stop beside him, and he changed a glance over at the man to see the determined gaze aimed at him. With a sharp nod, Shiro lunged at the shell of a body.

Lance was not far behind. With another cry, he ran towards the other two. Shiro and Lance took turns sticking blows. Little to none actually made their marks, but it was clear to both Paladin's that the monster was getting exhausted. Unfortunetly, that also meant he was getting desperate.

Shiro launched his mechanical arm at the monsters face. In a split second he dodged, and before Shiro could recover he was on him, sword slashing across his right knee.

Shiro yelled in agony, the sword cutting deep into his flesh. Lance paused a moment in horror, watching as Shiro fell to left knee, and the monster inside Keith's body kicked him to the side. His body went skidding five feet, and the monster made to go finish the job.

Before he could, though, Lance jumped in front of him, locking swords with him. They were both panting with exertion, simply staring at each other.

Bold blue met cruel yellow, and Lance felt as though he were in a different dimension. He was looking at the face of Keith, but the yellow eyes and small, sharp fangs that protruded from his snarl said otherwise. This was not the hot-headed mullet he had grown to care for.

But it was still Keith's body. So that meant he had to be somewhere in there, didn't he? It would be foolish not to try to reach him.

"Keith." Lance panted. "I know you're in there. You have to fight whatever this is."

The thing in Keith's body raised an amused eyebrow, an evil smirk resting on its lips.

"Don't waste your time, Red Paladin. The one you know is gone." the monster replied, still inhaling breathy gasps.

Lance narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, forcing the other to push back. "That's a load of bull. I know Keith, he would never give up that easily. He would never hurt his friends. Never try to kill his family!" Lance spit out, pushing one more time on their interlocked swords.

"Family?" the beast questioned, scoffing. Then, he pulled his sword back. He stuck again, Lance stepping back and taking the blow with his broadsword.

"Family." the monster ground out, once again striking and pushing Lance back a step.

"Means." the beast growled, growing more aggressive with the attacks.

Lance was in over his head. He had been practicing with the broadsword, but only for a couple months, and sporadically at best. This monster, however, had gained Keith's skill with the blades, and was using it to its fullest potential.

Then, as Lance swung just a hair too far back, the beast lunged, sword poised in front of him.

Lance gasped, choking on his next breath as he came face to face with the monster. His eyes widened, and he felt bile rising in his throat once again. He heard people calling his name, voices laced with terror, but all Lance could focus on was the man's face in front of him.

He felt his Bayard transform into its standard form, now loose in his grip. The pain in his stomach flared, the sword digging deeper as the monster leaned closer. His entire chest seized in pain, and Lance tasted the first but of coppery blood start to fill his mouth.

"Nothing." he whispered, only inches from Lance's helmet. Lance groaned as the monster twisted the sword just slightly, causing even more flames to lick across his abdomen.

His vision was becoming slightly black around the edges. Lance knew that he had not nearly lost enough blood yet to have the possibility of going unconcious, but the shock alone was almost enough. Heck, the beasts grip on the sword was the only thing keeping him standing.

But he still hadn't completed his mission. He still needed to bring Keith back. There was no way he was leaving this monster here with his friends and family as he bled out on the ground. They would be joining him in minutes if he did that.

Lance felt tears slip from the corners of his eyes at the decision. It was the only way.

"Some Paladin you are." the monster snarled as he saw the tears.

It was the only way.

"What did you expect would happen?"

It was the only way.

"Did you really think everyone would come out of this invasion alive?"

It was for his friends.

"So naive."

It was for his family.

"So stupid."

It was for Keith.

"So weak."

Lance summoned all the strength he could, and in a flash his sword was back and his arm thrust forward.

The monster choked, slowly looking down towards the red broadsword now embedded in his abdomen. His eyes were wide, and slowly his grip on the bayard in Lance's own stomach disappeared.

His grip went completely, the Black Bayard reverting back to its original form and falling to the ground. Lance soon followed it, collapsing to his knees before falling to his side, arms wrapped around his abdomen.

It hurt so much. Nothing even compared to the pain Lance felt as he hit the ground. He heard the Red Bayard hit the ground beside him, and another body joined his on the dirt.

Lance's vision was fading fast, and he felt his breath getting shorter. It was getting so hard to breathe. Every inhale was a struggle, and each time less and less oxygen was getting into his lungs.

But he did it. He may be as good as dead, but so was the monster.

So was Keith.

His heart panged, and new tears streamed down his face. Lance didn't think it would end like this. He never wanted it to end like this.

But it was the only way.

Lance heard him groan beside him, and he managed to drag his head so he was staring at his face. The yellow eyes were now scrunched in pain, his entire face a picture of pure agony.

Yet even through his own fizzy vision, he saw the fight draining out of him. The sticky blood puddle had been growing steadily beneath both of them, and soon there would be no more blood to give.

Lance felt his body slowly going lax. He could no longer feel his legs, and all the muscles everywhere else refused to contract. The pain in his stomach was lessening, and his head was becoming fuzzy.

But he could still use his arms.

In one last act, Lance slowly dragged his arm towards Keith's, which was now limp. He latched on as hard as he could, taking whatever comfort he could.

He saw Keith's face, eyes back to their regular purple, face relaxed, but empty. Lifeless.

Like he was about to be.

Lance knew his family would grieve. But he hoped they would understand. He hoped Voltron would understand why he did what he did. That this was the only way either of them won.

He felt one more tear fall onto his face. His breathing was now almost non-existent, and his vision felt like a shaking, TV screen white noise.

There were two, loud, mechanical roars, and then there was nothing but an endless, black void.

 _ **~To be Continued~**_

 **Sorry not sorry.**

 **~Atatami**


End file.
